Melancholy and Content
by Chicken Yuki
Summary: Kathy was dealt a harsh blow when she became afflicted with unrequited love. Though there are no bad feelings left over, much guilt and regret remains. This melancholy catches the attention of a wayward stranger who becomes very unlikely help...
1. Enter the Stranger

_**Disclaimer: **__All your Harvest Moon are belong to Marvelous Interactive._

* * *

**Melancholy and Content**

It was Friday evening at the Sundae Inn, when the bar hours were open.

A gruff, bearded man behind the counter looked worriedly at the blonde with a ponytail wiping up the tables.

She was his daughter and employee, and someone who was usually full of life when on the job; however, today, like the past few days beforehand, she was in a bit of a slump. He already tried consoling her in every possible way he could think of as her father, and while she showed some signs of lightening up, her melancholy remained. The only think he could do at this point was wait. He believed his daughter was a good child, and a sensible one with good reason, so he had faith that she'll be able to pull herself together.

While father and daughter were lost in thought, the entrance to the Inn opened. Along with the light of sunset came a stranger previously unseen on Waffle Island. She had straight, long crimson red hair and sharp green eyes with a piercing gaze. She wore what appeared to be a full black business suit straight out of a mafia flick with the odd addition of a loose red ascot tied around her neck.

She looked rather aloof and composed, yet estranged and out-of-place at the same time. It seemed as though she lacked something more apparent most, but was oddly content despite it.

"I didn't come too early, did I? Is the bar open?" the stranger asked in a very forward tone.

"No, you came just in time, Miss." The man behind the counter replied.

The stranger's indifferent expression folded into a slight smile.

"Alright, good. Can you make me a rice cocktail?," the stranger requested, " I don't know if it tastes anything like eastern sake or rice tea, but the word around here is that's one of your finest concoctions."

"Will do. Now, if I can just have your name, Miss?"

"Er… Althea Connors, Sir."

"Well Miss Connors, just take a seat and you'll have your rice cocktail in just a moment. It'll cost you 345 gold." The bartender told her.

Upon saying that, the stranger reached inside a blazer pocket and placed the precise amount of coins for her drink with a banged fist.

"Done," Althea proclaimed with a smirk.

The bearded bartender gave her a startled look.

"What, you assumed some city folk like me would just ask you to put it on a tab?" she asked.

"N-no, it was just… that was so soon. You usually wait until after you're served to pay" The bartender explained.

Althea shrugged.

"I just wanted my end of the deal to be done as soon as possible. I'm punctual like that." She replied coolly.

The bartender simply nodded back, then resumed making the drink.

As soon as Althea took her seat, she glanced curiously at the busy barmaid to her side. In a matter of moments, she noticed the same things that the barmaid's father had been observing the past few days: a look of subtle melancholy, repressed regret, and yearning for hope. Her eyes remained locked on the oblivious employee until a finished rice cocktail came her way.

"There's your drink, Miss Connors."

"Uh, sure… thanks." Althea said with a nod before she picked up her drink.

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**Like most of the stories making up my roster, don't expect much in quantatiy after this. This is a setup prologue to an otherwise short story, and will only be followed up with one more "Chapter". Otherwise, thanks for reading.**


	2. Awkward Confession

The blonde barmaid moved onto the next table over and immediately started wiping the top over.

There was so much on her mind at that moment that everything else around her was a blur, or was practically non-existent. It was as though her body was on autopilot while her mind was elsewhere, and her personal burden was all-too-apparent to her despite her desire to ignore it. She assumed work would help her get over it, but it only served to trap her in deeper.

_"Why did I go through all of that? Why did I bother doing any of it? It was obvious from that start we'd just be friends, and yet I went ahead and--- that was stupid of me. I was only leading myself on while using him. It wasn't Richter's fault: he really was just trying to raise as much as he could to help get his farm in shape, and then we sorta just clicked as co-workers. We had so much fun together, though. Maybe TOO much fun, but it still didn't give me the right to assume things. And he trusted me the whole time as a good friend. But then there was that lunch, and then the horse race, and--- why did I kiss him then? Why didn't I see it when I kissed him? And why did I bother confessing to him? He was with her that whole time she came back to the island. He even talked about her constantly when they started hanging out, too. I'm sorry, Dad. I'm sorry, Richter. I know you guys would rather not see me this way, but… I'm still trying to sort it all out. It's not like I can blame anyone else, as easy that would be. It's all my fault to begin with. That's why it's worse on me…"_

At that moment, the regretful barmaid was struck with a painful memory…

_On the great, grassy fields of the Brownie Ranch District, Kathy stood anxiously underneath Alan's tree along with a brown-haired young man in a red sweater._

_Kathy trembled with uncertainty, wanting to get something desperately off her chest, while the young man before him was very concerned. It was as if he knew what was about to happen…_

"_Err, well… I don't know how else to say it, other than… I like you, Richter. Though if you already have someone else in your life, I'll give up. Does it bother you that I like you?"_

_Richter clenched both his fists and shook his head slowly._

_"N-no… I'm sorry. I'm glad you like me so much. All those times I spent part-time at the bar were a lot of fun thanks to you, and your friendship really means a lot to me. It's just that I don't feel that way about you, Kathy." He muttered regretfully._

_"I-I see…" Kathy answered with a choke._

_"Did it… seem like I was leading you on this whole time? Maybe I shouldn't have---"_

_"No! Oh geez, no. You were just trying to hang out with me like any good friend with, right?" Kathy interrupted, "Besides, I did give you that kiss after that horse race and I was afraid I might have been out of line back then." _

_"That was sort of a warning sign on my end. I was afraid it would come down to this and I'd end up hurting you eventually, but I knew I had to be honest when it came down to it." Richter confessed._

_"I-It's not your fault. These are my feelings, after all. It's not like you're in full control of them or anything." Kathy answered, trying to defuse the blame._

_"Still…" Richter sighed._

_"S-so, while we're on the subject of feelings, who's the lucky girl?" Kathy asked, " Is it that Candance girl? You've been really good to her and she seems like someone nice. You've even been working part-time at the tailor's before your evening job." _

"_Actually, you remember that one woman I mentioned meeting before coming to Waffle Island? It turned out to be Phoebe, and since we reunited, we ended up hitting it off really well. I thought it was just an off-hand attraction to a quirky friend at first, but then I saw something in her that made me fall for her for real. I was actually on a search for a blue feather when you called me over for this meeting." Richter explained._

"…_ha. R-really? Phoebe? I actually heard from Owen that girl's really good at keeping to herself. M-Maybe you're the best thing to happen to her." Kathy suggested reluctantly."_

"_Kathy…"_

"_No! Really! I'm fine with it! My best buddy from the mainland found his soulmate after all, right?" Kathy insisted._

"_I know it's not as simple as that," Richter replied sympathetically, "This isn't a matter of who deserves a happy ending right now. Kathy, you're still my friend. Even if I don't return your feelings, I want to---"_

_The helpless farmer stopped himself and sighed. Kathy noticed him slowly distancing himself. It was very likely he reached the same conclusion she himself felt: That his presence was likely the last thing she needs at that moment. The only thing she could do was comply with this realization._

"_A-anyway, good luck with the proposal! I'm glad you met your old friend on the mainland! I bet anything she can't wait to be a blushing bride and all! Sorry for wasting your time!"_

_After that, Kathy immediately took off towards the nearby barn. She could sense Richter still watching her , but she couldn't dare look back. She was ashamed she needed to put this space between them in to begin with, and she regretted that it would continue to haunt her later on…_

"Hey!"

The sudden cry was quickly accompanied by the slamming of a glass cup atop a nearby table.

The startled Kathy turned her head to see the Sundae Inn's new guest staring right at her with a very stoic expression.


	3. And Zoidberg

"Y-yes? Can I help you?" Kathy asked shakily.

"Yeah, I kinda noticed you looked really distracted or something and I just felt like coming over here." Althea replied rather bluntly.

The customer's straightforward attitude hit a nerve with Kathy, yet she tried to regain some composure and treat her congenially.

"Ah, I see. Does this mean you wanted to talk?" she asked awkwardly.

"Actually, I was wondering if you were interested in talking…" Althea replied in a softer tone before taking a sip of her rice cocktail.

Despite an implied understanding in her voice, Althea's expression remained eerily unchanged.

"Ah… er.. umm…"

"Too confused to know what you want, eh? I've actually seen that mopey expression on many a person in my life thus far. That just leaves me wondering if my inability to relate to them is some sick joke…" Althea lamented.

Kathy blinked. She was unnerved by the impression that her feelings, even her situation, could actually be such an open book even to some stranger. Of course, the last line was incredibly cryptic.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Kathy asked.

"By my experience, anyone with that look can only mean that something really bad happened. I may know exactly what that thing is, but I don't like jumping to conclusions." Althea stated.

"And? What do you think it is?" Kathy demanded to know.

"It's not really my business to know, is it? After all, the customer relations is supposed to work the other way, isn't it?" Althea replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

Kathy cocked an eyebrow, being thoroughly confused as to what her customer's aim is.

"You're name is Althea, right?" Kathy suddenly asked, recalling the name she heard when her father served.

"And you must be "_Kaah-thee_"." The customer replied while squinting at her mini-sized name tag.

Kathy nodded back.

"Well, Miss Althea, I really have to know: WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU GETTING AT HERE?!" she cried.

What she got in response was a light-hearted chuckle and an unexpected smile.

"Oh, so you're pretty cool, after all!" Althea grinned.

None of this, however, actually cleared up anything for the baffled barmaid.

"Wha?"

"Look, it was getting really depressing seeing the only other employee in this shack being down like that, and I didn't want to force a smile down someone's throat for service. I really hate being the prying type." Althea sighed before taking another sip.

"Oh… um… thanks, then?" Kathy simply answered.

Althea simply shrugged back.

"I don't know. I've actually met a lot of pricks that pissed me off back in the day, but seeing anyone halfway-decent looking down sort of gets to me for some reason…" she confessed.

She then took a few more sips of her cocktail, seeming to enjoy the taste.

"Actually, if I recall correctly, one of the first I saw looking that way actually might have been my fault." She sighed.

"Your fault?" Kathy asked in surprise. "What…did… you do?"

Althea outstretched her non-drinking hand and started drumming on the table restlessly while staring off bitterly into space.

"God goddess, there's nothing else I couldn't have done, and yet it still sucked to have went on ahead, anyway" she muttered.

"Is this something private, then?" Kathy asked reluctantly.

The red-haired visitor turned her head towards the curious blonde.

"No, not really. It's probably something you might as well hear for one reason or another. That's what my gut tells me, at least."

Kathy leaned forward and rested an elbow on Althea's table. Althea then took yet another sip before resuming the conversation.

"To be honest, I was pissed how the lot of them assumed me to be a closeted lesbian because of how I went about things. It was easy to see it was all on baseless crap that make the common guy think they're know-it-alls. Too bad that justification isn't enough to make me feel any better about that girl…"

"Wait. You mean you were…"

"It must have took a lot of courage to do that, too. A lot. I didn't really know her all that well, but it was easy to see she was a sweet girl. Heck, anybody who knew her could probably tell you that. So it would have surprised anyone seeing such a girly girl come out to me like that. Of course I couldn't return her feelings, but with everything she revealed she must have been afraid. With all the taboo surrounding it, she probably thought I saw her as some kind of freak when I rejected her. I couldn't even approach her after that because she was still afraid of anyone else knowing. What really stings is that I couldn't even understand what she felt or what she was going through…" she revealed.

Kathy looked at her guest in shock.

_"So that's how Richter must have felt. I bet it was even worse because he was my friend and didn't want to hurt me…" _Kathy thought to herself.

"So… what, then? Were you seeing someone back then in secret? Are you looking for someone now?" Kathy asked.

"It's much more complicated then that. I can't really understand how she felt, or you, or anyone for that matter. I… don't… understand those feelings. Even the good ones. I've never been attracted to anyone, let alone love someone." Althea explained. "All this talk about wanting to hold or kiss anyone or anything beyond that is all Moonspeak to me. Don't get me wrong: I wasn't completely unsociable my whole life, I actually had some friends to talk to. It's just that when they get into those sort of topic, it just sounds really pointless and perverted. Of course I didn't like guys like that. I felt rather guy-ish myself, but it was even rarer for me to even get along with a girl. It makes me feel like Peter Pan in a way. I haven't really "grown up" a lot, so to speak. And even if I could, I don't really feel like it. And I don't mind, really, but then I regret not being able to understand a lot of people, like with what you're going through."

"Trust me, you don't want to know how I'm feeling right now." Kathy assured her with a bittersweet smile.

"And I don't want you envying me at the same time." Althea added.

"And how come?" Kathy asked dubiously.

"Even if whatever the heck you're going through was some sort of mistake to you in retrospect, we're different people. I believe we shouldn't want things the other has." Althea explained.

"You don't even know what my story is," Kathy reminded her.

"And I don't really need to. Sure, I'm cheating myself out of an interesting story, but like I said, customer relations shouldn't work that way." Althea insisted, "I'd just like to say that after 20 good years of life without having to deal with that sort of thing, I decided that love isn't mandatory for real happiness for everybody. I probably sound insane or delusional to a majority of the planet for putting it out so plainly like, but people have gone on lifelong chastity as a sacrifice and managed well. For me, it'll be about a thousand times easier to cope with. Besides, we all have different dreams we want to fulfill in life. I can imagine all the lists out there are pretty diverse, and some of the commonplace items are likely not to turn up on everyone's list. As for mine, I guess my top priority at the moment is freedom…"

"So then, what do you do for living?" Kathy wondered while trying to make an assessment of her attire.

"Right, that. I'm a lounge singer. I'm still an out-of-her-league amateur, but I guess I'm good enough to receive my pay." Althea replied while waving her finished glass in the air.

"Really? I haven't been to the mainland in a long time, but from what I remember about cities, you look like one of those mafia guys." Kathy said with a laugh.

"I don't know, it's my look. You ever heard of the "Rat Pack" from a few decades back? The lot of them were smooth swingers and they weren't exactly known for being the cleanest guys around. Besides, I kinda love the aesthetic. It makes me feel really cool." Althea smirked.

"I don't know about any Rat Pack, but that outfit really makes you look like a sleazy criminal or something." Kathy noted.

"Not my fault stores sell them legitimately." Althea retorted, "If the public really wanted to downplay a certain kind of image, they wouldn't make this stuff available."

"Is your singing gig making you a lot of money, then? Those clothes don't look cheap."

"Oh, these can come at a very good price if you know where to look. It's really weird what you can find in some generic retail stores and thrift shops these days."

"Hey, Miss!" A voice called out.

Both Kathy and Althea turned to see an older man with neatly parted grey hair wearing a green vest and red tie in a fine business ensemble.

"Will you be spending the night, or are you just here for the bar?" he asked.

"I think I'll be spending the night, then. It's getting late." Althea answered.

"Can you see me for check-in, then?" the older man asked.

"Uh, sure. No problem.

She then placed the empty glass on the table and looked at Kathy one more time.

"It was nice talking to you, er… Kathy. Sorry I suck with names and all that. Maybe we can have another talk if I have enough time tomorrow?" Althea asked.

"Sure, and thanks." Kathy simply replied.

"Okay, then." Althea grinned.

The nicely-dressed stranger then made a bee-line towards the counter where the man in the grey vest was waiting.

"Oh! Um… and good night!" Kathy cried.

"G'Night." Althea replied casually.

Kathy thought back to the stranger's words of estrangement and her uncomfortable experience of rejecting someone's feelings. She then thought back to Richter and how hard she personally worked to sort out her feelings and preserve their friendship.

_"It's been awhile, but I think I'll be able to see him again, now." _She thought to herself with a relieved smile.

"Hey, Kathy! Can you bring in that cup for me? We need to finish up for the night." The bearded man at the bar called.

"Yeah, sure Dad!" Kathy called back.

With incredibly speed and dexterity, the blonde barmaid snatched up the glass quicker than the eye could notice, then made her way behind the bar counter.

A new day was approaching. And for Kathy, it would be a day of reparation and reinvigoration.

**End**

_**So, yeah. Althea was actually a character concept for a Harvest Moon Fangame idea I had that would look like her aforementioned description. In the game's setting, she'd come visit every weekend and sing at the local pub while making a new song available to listen to on a music player. Essentially, she'd be a Harvest Moon equivalent to Totakeke from Animal Crossing. Though she herself wouldn't be a bachelorette for the very reason spelled out in this fic, she'd be best friends with a fellow songstress that actually would be up for marriage, and (like the Harvest Goddess in FoMT?) there still would be a benefit to your character's love life for befriending her… even if your character is also a girl.**_

_**But mostly I got the "plot" from my experience with Kathy in ToT, expecting another instance of "hot best friend", but instead I got a girl who was genuinely cute in her own way and that it kind of sucked breaking it off with her during the confession cutscence. I was dead set on marrying either Anissa or Phoebe in my first play through, and I didn't see reason enough to change my mind.**_

_**By the way, I did write an earlier work called "Once Upon a Vivid Memory" that serves as a prequel to this whole. It's in First Person and shows how Richter met Phoebe. In that case, they ended up meeting before Waffle Island.**_

_**Thanks for reading, then.**_


End file.
